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First Impressions of New 12-Inch MacBook: Ridiculously Light, but Thin Keys and Trackpad Take Getting Used To
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Only one review in this article was even slightly negative on the keyboard. That is hardly uniformly negative.
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So buy one of the other models. Why on eart are people upset about this.
Having a slightly thinner laptop doesn't make it any different to use. You still need to carry it in something that fits the footprint. You aren't suddenly able to carry it differently... It's just slightly smaller and lighter. Good, but won't do anything for you.
That can't be said of the compromises though. Those will affect the way you use the device daily.
I hope they make the Air Retina with very small bezels (the current ones are massive and bright silver to make them stand out more).
None of these things are ports.
The vast majority of people also is perfectly fine without an optical drive, many people report not having used one in years. And it can be added via an external drive so it is not completely lost.
With RAM, I've always maxed it out when I got a new laptop, so being able to change it was not really an advantage for me (it might have made it cheaper but that is a different argument).
In regard to storage that is true but longer battery life and a lighter bag is what you get in return, so it is a tradeoff. And I would be pretty sure that 95% of all users never upgraded the storage. I very frequently hear from people that they get an external drive because their internal is getting full despite them having most of the time computers where the storage is upgradable.
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It's no weirder than the two-finger click. Apple has not become better or worse in this regard. It has always been like this.
more lolz - so most of the negative posts about the MacBook are by people who would never buy one anyway.
Usual story.
Usual story.
2 USBs at least for the love of god. I need 3 now, and no USB hubs do not work, as certain devices require that you be plugged directly into the computer
Yeah, 'New MacBook Air' and updating the 'old' MacBook Air at the same time is not confusing. With the iPad, the older model was clearly left their as the previous year's model. And overall the 'new iPad' was not a great name, nobody but Apple actually called it like that and even Apple referred to it in its documentation as 3rd gen.
They could have called it MacBook Ultra or something like this but compared to 'Ultra', I find 'MacBook' less confusing.
That's not really my point. My point is that when Apple do something to a new model, the rest are sure to follow.
My cMBP is still going strong (albeit after 3 logic boards) and I've been able to go from 4->8->16GB of RAM and 750GB hard disk to 512GB SSD myself. Now I'm forced to consider the top end laptop from the word go because whatever I buy I'm stuck with. I could accept this with the Air or new MacBook, but the Pro is already dumbed down too far and if it follows the MacBook, that will be beyond a joke!
Sorry, when I pack a bag I have to carry around, every pound counts. If it is only the laptop, then fine but once you have other stuff to carry around you quickly come to a point where you notice the weight of your bag.
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Yes, Apple is doing those things that not too far in future almost nobody will mind anymore. Pretty much that point in the future when they actually bring it to all their computers.
For example the optical drive, when the MBP lost it, most people didn't care anymore. Really, except for storage, there is nothing in the current MBPs that older MBPs had that I would miss. Take the Ethernet port, despite still having one on my MBP and an Ethernet cable on my desk, I have not plugged it in for the last two years or so. WiFi is fast enough.
Why was 4 or 8 GB ok for you two or three years ago but isn't now anymore?
There is only one complaint about soldered stuff: it's more expensive than buying it yourself. But then the Mac itself might already be too expensive compared with Windows laptops, so in the end the only thing we complain about is the price. And that is nothing new either.
From the drop shadow you can see that the computer is actually thicker, it's just the edge where the ports go is thin. So not an actual constraint.
Regardless, if they'd just added one more USB-C connector, and possibly an old-style USB on the power adapter, I would have been much happier with this, even losing the SDXC port. When I attach an external hard drive or DVD drive is when I want to plug it in, and that's every day for me. Hello, Time Machine backups! That's not some special nerd thing to do, everyone should backup their computer, and I shouldn't need an expensive adapter to do a basic task.
I don't really want a computer without MagSafe anyway. Basically, whatever port is constantly being plugged into and unplugged tends to get damaged over time. One of the benefits of MagSafe is you don't damage your critical power port over the years. Now, all wear and tear is on one single small USB-C port.
In Canada, this is the same price as a MacBook Pro Retina 13". Meaning that this would only be bought in very special cases of absolutely needing something small over so much more functionality. Horrible value.
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In that case the 11" MacBook Air is very close in size and weight, while having mostly better specs and a lower price.
It's about 1/3 the speed of gigabit Ethernet when accessing time capsule or a NAS though
USB Dimensions
Width 12 mm (A-plug),[1] 8.45 mm (B-plug); 7 mm (mini/micro-USB)
Height 4.5 mm (A-plug),[1] 7.78 mm (B-plug, pre-v3.0); 1.53 mm (mini/micro-USB)
So USB is only 4.5 mm high
And Macbook is 13.5 mm high
Annnnnnndddd.........We can't fit a normal USB in there huh ?
Oh wait ! You totally could
Either that, or just put 2 USB C ports and a magsafe power port. I don't understand how you are supposed to charge while using the usb port.
- Yes, it will be very pleasant as you purchase (again) all new generation devices. APPLE will be just as happy.
the adapter. AC, usb, hdmi. all available at once.
do people just post without doing any research? or reading other's posts?
Yes, it is thicker than the straight edge. But that tapered part is needed so you can pick up the computer easily when it sits on a desk.
There has been speculation whether it would have been possible to have two USB-C ports with both accepting a charger (if that is not possible, things would have to be marked and it would have a recipe for trouble).
It's about 1/3 the speed of gigabit Ethernet when accessing time capsule or a NAS though
The Time Capsule is too slow for that to make a difference (at least in sustained transfer, pinging time might be slower over WiFi). And for the small group of people that has a fast NAS, TB to Ethernet adaptors solve that problem (I was explicitly talking about MBPs which have TB).
USB Dimensions
Width 12 mm (A-plug),[1] 8.45 mm (B-plug); 7 mm (mini/micro-USB)
Height 4.5 mm (A-plug),[1] 7.78 mm (B-plug, pre-v3.0); 1.53 mm (mini/micro-USB)
So USB is only 4.5 mm high
And Macbook is 13.5 mm high
Annnnnnndddd.........We can't fit a normal USB in there huh ?
Oh wait ! You totally could
It would fit well just next to the VGA port!
Well, if it was me, I wouldn't keep all 3 and I hardly expect them to. The will ditch the Air I would think by end of the calendar year. I'm assuming the bump we saw w/ the Air will be it's last. I think that should be quite clear to everyone. You can't have your "Air" version being bigger and weighing more than the "regular" version.
Yes I do expect to see the Pro's adopt much of the technology, but no way will it be fanless. The big indicator was the 15" didn't get anything. What this tells me is the 13" was able to get some things simply because of the size similarity of the new MB. I'd expect to see a revamp on the Pro's in the fall. Not the overall design, but a lot of internals along w/ port swapping. IE current USB 3.0 -> type C. I think thunderbolt will stay with the Pro's.
Wow, I am a huge Apple fan but this product just seems so DOA to me.
The only way I can see this working at all is if the multiport adapter was more akin to a dock and less like a USB hub. (oh whoops, it's not even as good as a USB hub!)
I could handle the lack of ports if the other specs were a tad better. But 480p facetime cam? And only a dual core CPU with 1.1-1.3ghz speed, and Intel's latest Iris video. 8gb ram? Seriously?
The storage capacity is nothing to write home about either. I'm just really unenthusiastic about this Mac product and that surprised me.
I feel that Apple's designers just went to a couple Starbucks and observed how people in those environments use their laptops.
OTOH I guess the iphone color scheme and lightweight performance position this more as a students laptop than one a businessperson, musician or artist would use.
I have to agree with the earlier statement that this is disconcerting because this most likely signals the type of direction that they will take the rest of the laptop line in eventually.
Frankly I am getting kind of sick of these unilateral moves by Apple where they just chop off vast areas of functionality and put a ton of emphasis of looking cool. It used to be good at both.
The only way I can see this working at all is if the multiport adapter was more akin to a dock and less like a USB hub. (oh whoops, it's not even as good as a USB hub!)
I could handle the lack of ports if the other specs were a tad better. But 480p facetime cam? And only a dual core CPU with 1.1-1.3ghz speed, and Intel's latest Iris video. 8gb ram? Seriously?
The storage capacity is nothing to write home about either. I'm just really unenthusiastic about this Mac product and that surprised me.
I feel that Apple's designers just went to a couple Starbucks and observed how people in those environments use their laptops.
OTOH I guess the iphone color scheme and lightweight performance position this more as a students laptop than one a businessperson, musician or artist would use.
I have to agree with the earlier statement that this is disconcerting because this most likely signals the type of direction that they will take the rest of the laptop line in eventually.
Frankly I am getting kind of sick of these unilateral moves by Apple where they just chop off vast areas of functionality and put a ton of emphasis of looking cool. It used to be good at both.
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So we're now saying 2010 performance is acceptable in 2015 for $1300?! This MacBook's cpu is slower than every MBA in the last 3 years.
Given how Apple likes to take away things, we don't know how long we'll have both of those lines to pick from. With Apple's track record, we'll be down to MacBooks only in 2 years.
Okay, please stop calling this the "entry level Macbook". An entry level product would, by definition, be the cheapest. This thing costs $400 more than a Macbook Air, $200 more than a Macbook Pro, and has the exact same price as a 13" Macbook Pro Retina!
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If it doesn't suit your needs, don't buy it. Apple sells a range of Mac products.
Pure speculation. It's more likely the performance of Intel's chips will continue to improve so that in 2 years you'll get suitable performance from a machine of this form factor.